Ship Between Two Beacons
by MirwenAnareth
Summary: One day, Kikyo finds herself tossed into the Well of Time and ends up in the future while Kagome remains in the feudal era. To the shock of both of them, the Well closes and refuses to let them through. Consequently, the flow of time shifts and threatens to cast the world into eternal darkness. (Takes place right after the first 167 episodes of anime.) Original pairings!
1. The Loop Closes

**Disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs to Takahashi Rumiko and respective companies. I do not own any part of it and I'm not in contact with its author or publishers.**

* * *

 **Author's note:** This story was originally written in 2007 after I watched the first anime series (167 episodes). It follows it as a sequel. Strangely enough, even after the rest of the manga was published and the second series was released, my plot didn't collide with the original story.

I originally wrote this fic in my mother tongue, Czech, and now I decided to translate it into English so you too can enjoy it. As it is a complete story of fifteen chapters, you can expect frequent updates. I won't promise you an update every week at a certain hour of certain day, but the release tempo should still be pretty much stable and quite fast.

Reviews, favs and follows are encouraged.

Enjoy the story. :)

* * *

 **Chapter 01: The Loop Closes**

A boy with white hair and dog-like ears crept silently through the forest, his frame casting a sharp shadow on the ground as the sun shone through the countless branches of green and gold. The only thing revealing his age were the countless experiences, pain and weariness displayed in his golden eyes. He wore a set of ragged red robes and a rosary made of large beads at which he kept tugging every now and then, though his efforts proved futile. It was not by far the first time he attempted to take it off, but no matter how hard he tried, the cursed trinket kept hanging around his neck and making his life as bothersome as it could get. He frowned, darting out only to stop a while later. Truth be told, he had no idea where he was, for he had shut his senses off the moment he had left the dried-out wooden well whose peculiar magic had changed his life forever.

 _If only this well didn't exist,_ he whined in his thoughts. _None of the things happening to me would have occurred. I would have never met her, and as of now, I would be resting in peace, pinned to the Sacred Tree for eternity…_

"Oh, I highly doubt that," an elderly hoarse voice issued behind his back and the half-demon turned around abruptly. An old hag in white kimono and red hakama trousers, whom he recognized as Kaede, the local priestess, was looking at him, giggling impishly and nodding in his direction. "Next time you need to sort something out, perhaps you could try avoiding yelling it out loud so the whole forest hears you."

He twitched his ears and snorted.

"You don't have to listen to every whisper one lets out to relieve the stress," he snarled and sat where he stood with his legs crossed, grimacing grumpily. She scoffed at the remark but shook her head in resignation.

"I presume Kagome's back to her time?" the woman asked with a sigh.

"She went home to let her steam off," he grumbled in reply. "As always."

"You should be a little more forthcoming towards her, Inuyasha," she scolded him softly. "She doesn't have it easy either."

"Bah. If it were up to you, she'd be even far worse off than she is now," Inuyasha uttered with a frown.

"Oh yes?"

"Imagine having to decide between Kagome and Kikyo… isn't she your own sister?"

Kaede took a deep breath and opened her mouth to say something which would stab the half-demon's heart much more painfully than any weapon of Naraku's minions could, but not a single whispering sound escaped her lips and she pressed them together again. The process repeated itself several times until she dared to speak.

"But Kikyo is… gone."

Inuyasha regarded her with a look full of genuine hatred, his eyes narrowed with fury.

"Gone, yes? If she was gone, why would I be able to speak with her? Why can I touch her and hear her voice? Why do I… love her?"

"You _did_ love her," Kaede corrected. "Understand, Inuyasha, she is halfway to the land of the dead, unable to proceed further _or_ go back. Kikyo is beyond saving."

"So I should just wave and give her goodbye?" he growled in exasperation and twitched his ears again. The soft grass beneath him failed to soothe his stirred emotions, and so he rose and started pacing restlessly, circling the ground before the priestess. She lowered her head as though some exceedingly heavy burden pulled it down.

"No," she exhaled, "just don't leave Kagome behind."

"I'm not leaving her behind," he protested fiercely. "It's just that… she feels that way the moment Kikyo appears in her sight. I really don't know what to do. Why did it have to happen? In the end, Kikyo and Kagome are one and the same person, they share one soul. So why…"

"They have a different heart," Kaede said quietly.

Inuyasha sighed. He knew in his heart that one of them would have to leave his side permanently, but who? Can he just cast one of them away? Should it be Kikyo who was supposed to be dead for a long, long time? But wasn't he the same? Still, he was truly alive, while Kikyo was just an almost empty vessel of bones and dust. But he loved her… Should it be Kagome, the girl who had come from a different time and did not belong here? No, the mere thought of her leaving felt suffocating. A life without Kagome…

 _I can't even imagine it anymore,_ he thought to himself. _No in-stunt ramen or potato chips, no creaky two-wheeled iron device, no miraculous cures, no more shouting "Sit!" and no more watching…_

He shook his head. The only thing this world had brought Kagome was suffering while Kikyo had been born here and knows nothing beyond it. He was sure every minute must feel horrible to the girl from the future. Maybe it would be best for her if she left for good.

* * *

Strands of ivy and other climbers rustled in the dried-out well in the middle of the forest. A dark-haired girl in a school uniform of green and white was climbing its tendrils, clinging to them tightly. Her face was reflecting indecisiveness, as though she was struggling between the feeling of anger or sorrow. She sighed, half because of her unsettled emotions and half of exhaustion, for this was the second time in just a short while that she was trying to climb up the cold walls of the well. At last, she finally reached its upper edge. Upon entering the beautiful sunlit meadow spreading around it, she spotted a small fox demon, waving his tail from side to side absentmindedly. He stared at her in surprise when she appeared before him.

"Kagome," he called to her. "I thought you went back."

"Well, I…" the girl hesitated. "I changed my mind. Shippo, could you maybe give me some time alone?"

"Sure," he nodded and disappeared in the trees nearby in the wink of an eye.

Kagome sighed and then sat down heavily, her back leaning to the loft wooden edge of the well she had just come from. In an instant, her attention turned to a snake-like translucent demon whose faint glow drowned in the sunlight which floated from the bushes, approaching the nearby Sacred Tree.

"So Kikyo is here as well," Kagome spoke to herself silently a knit her brows.

As if answering her call, a tall figure of a girl in red and white emerged from the shadows. Kagome raised her head and looked up, her face barely reflecting a hint of surprise at her sudden appearance.

"You should be careful," the newcomer spoke softly without a word of greeting. "And ready your bow. Kagura is heading this way, although I have no idea what she could come here for. I doubt she'll be friendly though."

With that last word, a woman in an elegant purple-white kimono holding a large fan landed nearby, and the arrogant look in her face was the only fault in her otherwise perfect face crowned by a mop of raven hair tied up in a short ponytail. Her red eyes studied the two girls who stood there ready to fight, resembling twins in appearance, yet each of them wearing a different aura.

"Well, greetings," she said with a smirk. "I've been looking for you. I want Kagome to come with me."

There was a moment of silence, everyone standing at their place motionlessly.

"No worries, I have no reason to hurt you," she continued calmly. "Naraku doesn't trust me anymore, I'm a traitor to him. But I have to act while I'm still alive. If we rid him of the Sacred Jewel, I can see a chance to defeat him. So what say you?"

"We have no guarantee that you're telling the truth," the girl beside Kagome spoke, her lips curling softly to form a hint of a smile.

"Not asking you, Kikyo," Kagura hissed irritably. "You and your infinite meddling… I'll be sure to make you and Naraku meet and settle things between you two before I put him down!" And with that, she swung her fan towards the young priestess. Kikyo jumped up in the air, avoiding the glowing blade reminiscent of a crescent moon gone in her way by a hair. Leaping backwards, she gasped in surprise as the well opened underneath her frame, embracing her in darkness as she fell. Then a blinding beam of light flashed through the air. Kagome squeezed the wooden sill in a tight grip and leaned over the edge, staring into the depth, but there was no sign of the priestess.

"Kikyo!" she exclaimed, but only silence came in reply, interrupted only by the soft whisper of the wind in the treetops. Deciding to follow her, Kagome jumped into the pit without a trace of hesitation, but she cried out in surprise when her body landed on the unpleasantly cold hard bottom with a thud. And Kikyo wasn't there.

She poked at the soil with the tip of her foot and then placed a hand on it. Scratching didn't help either, and finally she hit it with her fists, but the solid ground refused to give way and let her to the other side.

"Why – is – it – not – working?!" she fumed, her fist meeting the ground with every pronounced word. But it would not budge.

She heard Kagura scoff above her and shot her an angry glance. The red-eyed girl was leaning to the sill, watching her, wicked amusement framing her face. Kagome furrowed her brows. She could almost hear Kagura's triumphant jibe.

 _So that's taken care of,_ she must be thinking. Her eyes gleamed with satisfaction and she smiled at the helpless girl kneeling at the bottom of the well.


	2. A Matter of Life and Death

**Just a little note about why this chapter came out so late:**

First, I got overloaded with schoolwork. I thought I'd be fine, able to handle everything as I imagined, but things got a little complicated and I had to prioritize other things.  
Second, the better part, I got a beta for this story. Her name is **Sassybratt** and I got to know about her when she sent me this awesome review for the first chapter. She sincerely gave me some amazing constructive criticism and then agreed to help me improve, so we worked on this chapter together. That said, she was a huge help and I can't even express how happy I am to be able to work with her. There are hours and hours of hard work behind this chapter, so I hope you like it. Reviews, favs and follows much appreciated.

 **Maliya Wong:** Well… this is how it's going to continue. And there will be more characters included in the next chapter. :)

* * *

 **Chapter 02: A Matter of Life and Death**

"Open!" Kagome demanded as her fists hit the ground for the hundredth time, sweat coating her brow as she fought the hard soil. "Let me go home! Come on, budge, you stupid little piece of dirt! Who's responsible for this?!"

"Why so angry?" Kagura's calm voice came from above. "It's not the end of the world."

Kagome raised her head and her eyes met the demon's. She scowled at the sight of her smug smile, barely discernible against the bright sunlit sky on the background. Kagura was leaning on the wooden sill comfortably, seemingly unbothered by the sudden turn of events.

"Easy for you to say, since you couldn't care less," the priestess retorted wryly. "You don't care about anything but yourself anyway!"

"Sure, whatever," came the leisurely reply. "Just give it up, will you? What's done is done, you can't change it. Better if you help me look for Naraku's Sacred Jewel shard."

Kagome narrowed her eyes. "And why should I help you?" she asked distrustfully.

Kagura tapped her fan against the sill, a sly smirk in her face. "Think about it, you'll only merit from that. Once it's put together again, you can—" Her voice was suffocated suddenly and the woman disappeared from Kagome's sight as though she had not been more than a mere illusion, dissipated into the thin air.

A variety of swishing and roaring sounds echoed from above, and Kagome could swear she heard a voice cry "Wind scar!" amidst all of that.

"Tell your girlfriend we'll see each other again!" Kagura's sharp voice exclaimed irritably before the noise faded away.

Kagome could not make out the next sentence, muttered grumpily under the breath. Standing up, she fixed her gaze at the azure sky above.

"Inuyasha, is that…?" she started, but then a white-haired head filled the vacancy and a pair of amber eyes stared at her attentively.

"Kagome, are you all right?" Inuyasha's voice echoed through the deepness of the well, muffled slightly by the luxuriant vegetation inside. Kagome exhaled deeply, rubbing her hands against her skirt to wipe the soil away.

"Yeah, I'm fine, but…" she replied, but then fell silent again. She was not keen on the idea of talking to Inuyasha about Kikyo. It was a sore subject for both of them, painful to even think about, but who knew what would happen if things stayed the way they were now? She was now trapped in the feudal era, unable to return home, while Kikyo was on the other side, certain to be mistaken for her.

Kagome laughed to herself inadvertently as she imagined Kikyo being tailed by Hojo offering her dumbbells and fruit to improve her health. Inuyasha raised a brow at that and she quickly shook her head to brush the thought away. She scolded herself in her thoughts for not being practical. Maybe she should focus on solving the problem rather than entertaining herself with the selfish thought of helpless Kikyo.

"Come up here!" the half-demon called to her, lifting a leg and rubbing the back of his ear with his toes. Something tiny quickly hopped out of a white, ruffled tuft of his hair and landed on his nose with a silent _gamyong_ , settling itself so it could pierce Inuyasha's skin with its snout. He slapped his own nose instinctively and the slight creature slid down, finding his hand at last. A balding flea in a kimono sat there, glancing up aggrievedly.

"If it isn't old Myoga," Inuyasha uttered, half amused and half exasperated. Kagome emerged by his side, her hair wild and messy and her hands soiled due to climbing up the well for the third time. She raised her palms, critically regarding the cuts and dirt covering them.

"Didn't see you coming," Inuyasha continued with a sardonic smile. "I bet it wasn't when I was facing Kagura here."

"No, master Inuyasha," the flea defended in a hoarse, aged voice. "At that time, I was already resting behind your ear."

Kagome shot the insect demon a doubtful look. Inuyasha opened his mouth to retort, but decided against it in the end, waving his hand dismissively. He turned to Kagome with a serious look on his face and she furrowed her brows in apprehension.

"Listen, Kagome," he addressed her and it sounded strangely formal. She shuddered at the sound of his voice and pointed to the ground near the sill. Inuyasha nodded and seated himself, leaning against the wood, and Kagome followed. Myoga made his way back to his head, only to be flicked off by an annoyed Inuyasha. He fell into the well with a silent whistle, and the two of them turned their heads after the sound instinctively.

"I've been thinking," the half-demon said and she suppressed the urge to smile at that statement. "A lot. I know you're not going to like this, and it's so hard for me… I've been thinking about you and…"

"Kikyo," Kagome completed when his voice trailed off, seemingly calm but the look in her eyes gave her tension away.

"Yeah. And I wanted to tell you… I mean, it's all my fault and I feel really bad for both of you, but I think it's about time one of you left this place for good."

The girl sighed heavily, averting her eyes. Her fingers found the grass beneath her feet and played with its tips unconsciously.

 _Here we go again,_ she thought to herself bitterly.

* * *

Kikyo sat on the bottom of the well, her elbows digging into the ground. She looked up in suspicion, studying her surroundings cautiously, and her eyes narrowed when she realized that the place had changed considerably. There was no one around, no head leaning over the edge of the well. The air had gotten colder and smelled a little foul, a bit dank, carrying the scent of smoke as well. It had gotten darker and even the vegetation covering the walls subsided noticeably compared to what her eyes had registered when she had been falling. In fact, she felt as though she had entered an entirely different well. Then she saw a rope ladder attached to one of the walls and the feeling turned into certainty.

Deciding to put the subject aside for now, for nothing would get solved if she was to stay there forever, she grabbed the rope and propped her feet against the wall. It took her a while to surmount the tall fairly smooth wooden surface, relying only on the pliable cords, and she silently complimented Kagome for being able to deal with this all the time, but at last, she found herself in a confined space, lit dimly through a set of wooden bars creating a window in a sliding door. This was definitely not the place she remembered it to be.

She walked up the low stairway ascending to the door, touched the handle hesitantly and opened one wing ajar, taking a curious peek outside. Her eyes spotted a building she would not even dare dream of. It was quite tall with strange plain windows, its roof simple, made in neatly laid tiles, and its walls painted in clean white. Peculiar white boxes were attached to it at several places, making a humming noise. Kikyo wondered what kind of material the building was made with and whether some sort of nobility lived there to be able to afford such a luxurious residence.

Slowly she exited the door and took a few steps forward, examining the odd world around. She was standing on a wooden platform raised above the ground, apparently a part of a shrine, with stairs leading down to a pathway covered with solid grey substance similar to the material the house was built in. The path then descended in a series of steps and connected to a wider road lined with a low wall which ran past more of those strange houses. An even stranger building loomed on the hill nearby, and upon looking up, she could see a winged device cross the sky in the distance. She made her way down the stairs and proceeded to the road, until she reached a crossroad with white stripes painted on the ground. Then she winced as a cacophony of noises reached her ears, a whirring sound, a hoot and an angered voice coming from behind.

"What the hell are you doing there? Get off the road, we ain't got all day!"

She turned around and threw a contemptuous look at the insolent face of a man in a bizarre metal wagon. A similar four-wheeled device passed in the opposite direction without anything pulling it or pushing it to move, people sitting inside effortlessly, staring at her through the transparent windows.

 _Kagome sure lives in a strange world,_ the priestess thought to herself. _Dangerous, comfortable and full of curious magic._

Turning her head to look around, she watched the wagons come and go before walking away slowly, heading back to the house. Then a voice called to her and she looked over her shoulder to see who it was this time.

"Hey, Kagome!" a girl exclaimed, one of the three who were approaching her, all clad in the same green and white dresses as she had seen Kagome wear. Judging from their appearance, they could be of Kagome's age too.

"Are you okay?" she continued. "Haven't seen you in a while. So… no more seizures?"

"Seizures?" she repeated with a startled expression.

"Wow, what are you wearing?" another one asked enthusiastically and ran to Kikyo with a wide smile on her lips. She touched the priestess's sleeve but then pulled away quickly. "Ew, this thing stinks!" she scowled. "What century is this from? And it's so filthy… take it off, how can you wear this?"

"I don't believe—" Kikyo tried to object but she was interrupted immediately.

"I can't believe you would actually go out like this. Let's go and have you changed into something better. Oh, and in case you're running out of clothes, we found a great shop. You're gonna love it!"

A girl with curly hair took Kikyo's hand into hers but froze upon touching it, gasping in surprise.

"Your hands are so cold!" she exhaled. "What happened to you? You're really sick, aren't you? How come you're not resting at home? Let's go back, you need to take it easy."

"She is a little pale," a girl with a yellow ribbon in her hair stated, granting Kikyo a concerned look while tilting her head to the side. "And so reserved… are you all right? Let's take her home, Ayumi. Don't worry, Kagome, we'll take care of you. Leave everything to us." With that, she winked at the confused Kikyo and took her other hand, nodding encouragingly toward the house.

"By the way," she lowered her voice dramatically, "how is your boyfriend? The one with the white hair, red-robed… you know, that criminal."

Kikyo stared at her in shock, silently cursing Kagome with every demon's name she could recall.

"I—Inuyasha?" she breathed disconcertedly.

"Yes, him. Still running to that other woman? But it's going to be okay, right? He looked so nice…"

Kikyo resisted the urge to clench her hands into fists and took a deep breath instead, trying to calm herself down.

 _This is going to be a real challenge,_ she snorted in her thoughts sourly. _Kagome, I believe you owe me quite some explanation when I come back._

* * *

"Which one?" Kagome asked, choking down the lump in her throat and feeling her stomach knot tightly.

"Well…" Inuyasha shook his head and fell silent again. How easy it had been to just decide that he would go and talk to her, but now that it had come to it, the words suffocated in his throat, refusing to let themselves be heard. "I don't want to hurt you," he said finally, standing, as his body needed to vent the restless feeling that had settled in his heart.

"What does that even mean?" she questioned, knitting her brows.

"I don't want to hurt either of you," he sighed. "Kikyo is home here, and I think she feels more secure in this era than you do. She's used to dealing with danger and… I just can't imagine her leaving…" His voice trailed off and he swallowed hard, expecting a punishment.

Kagome shot him an enraged glance. "So I should just pack my things, leave now and never come back," she concluded wryly. "Didn't we have a deal?"

The half-demon averted his eyes, fixing them on a brush where a lone sparrow was digging in the ground, searching for worms and other occupants.

"Sit," she said simply, her expression unreadable, and Inuyasha's head thrust face down into the soil with a loud bang. He yelped with pain and frustration, but then his body stilled and he lay there motionless, surrendering himself completely.

"Sit!" she repeated and an angry vein popped up on her forehead. His head sank a little deeper and she heard him growl silently.

"Kagome," Inuyasha's muffled voice uttered hoarsely. He lifted his head and rose shakily, his elbows digging into the soil as he propped himself up. "I don't want to chase you away, I just hate seeing you suffer like this. I can't forget Kikyo, you know this, but it pains me to see you get hurt merely remembering her. If only you could forget this all happened…"

"Ah, I see now," the girl scowled furiously, and Inuyasha felt a stab in his heart at the slight trace of ache she tried to conceal behind her wrath. "So you don't care, you just don't want to look at me!"

"Kagome…"

"SIT!"

Once again, his face slammed into the ground with a loud smash that drowned out his groan, and then silence prevailed, throbbing in their ears. Kagome crossed her arms over her chest in a defiant gesture, leaning her back against the wooden well behind her, watching the still Inuyasha, his limbs spread chaotically around him. Behind her, an agitated flea hopped out of the well and settled itself on its edge, indecisive as to how he should approach the two of them.

"Anyway," Kagome muttered after a while, "even if I chose to do as you say, I don't have a way of doing so now."

"What do you mean?" Inuyasha snapped, raising his head at last to let his appalled gaze meet Kagome's.

"Kikyo was here not too long ago, before Kagura came and assaulted her. The two of them engaged in a fight but Kikyo was knocked over," she exhaled deeply and tapped the sill behind her, "and probably sent to the other side. I tried to follow her but the well wouldn't let me pass. The ground is rock solid down there. Something is blocking the passage."

"Woe to us, what a predicament!" Myoga exclaimed, jumping on Inuyasha's shoulder and closing his eyes in horror.

"What is it?" Inuyasha and Kagome queried simultaneously, turning at the sound of each other's voice. Their eyes met and both of them quickly averted their gaze, a bit overwhelmed by the gravity of the situation.

"You are the reincarnation of Kikyo," the flea nodded to Kagome, "and she, carrying a piece of your own soul, entered the world you belong to," he explained hastily. "The flow of time has reversed and the time loop has closed!"

"Does it mean that we're going to stay like this forever?" Kagome asked and Inuyasha, rising to his feet, joined her once more. His eyes narrowed, staring at the tiny demon as he took him in his palm, his expression torn between rage and concern. "Kikyo will live in my time while I remain here?"

"Presumably," Myoga sighed. "Unless… no, forget it. That's too dangerous, even for valiant heroes that you two are."

"What is it, Myoga?" Inuyasha grumbled impatiently, tapping his foot soundlessly against the grass.

"You would have to get to the land of the dead. Not to its edge, but right in its heart where the dead souls reside. That is the one place where time does not matter, where the dead come and go, following their destinies in the endless circle of life. One can go anywhere from that realm."

"And why is it so dangerous?" Inuyasha continued his questioning, his voice trembling slightly at the prospect of fighting time itself. Dangerous was one thing, but how could he travel to the afterworld when he did not even know its location, much less what to expect there?

"The answer is quite simple," the flea stated, hopping up and down in the boy's hand. "To get there, you have to be dead. But to get back, you have to be alive. You need to die and then reincarnate yourselves, but that's not all. The one thing you lose during reincarnation is your memories, and those are essential if you want to go on and carry out your task. You have to find a way to preserve them. Or to stay alive for the whole time."

"But how the hell are we supposed to do that?" Inuyasha grunted with an exasperated frown.

"I have no idea," Myoga replied abstractedly, "but I am quite positive it's going to be too dangerous for my delicate being. So if you would excuse me… _gamyong_!" And he was off, skipping hastily through the green blanket of grass rippled slightly by the breeze, until his tiny frame disappeared from their sight behind a wall of bushes.

"Hey! Come back, you coward!" Kagome called after him, straightening her back, her face wrinkled with exasperation.

"Let's go, Kagome!" Inuyasha urged, jumping on his feet and offering his companion a supporting hand. She ignored it, exhaling deeply to chase away her frustration.

"Didn't you hear him, Inuyasha?" she demurred quietly. "Time means nothing over there. I think we have enough time to think about how we would bypass the loss of our memories. Probably a lifetime, I daresay."

"But where do we even start?" he objected fiercely. "Is a lifetime long enough to find out?"

"The memories have to stay somewhere," she mused. "Kikyo died, but she remembered who she was after being brought back to life."

Inuyasha sighed, looking up at the clear blue sky that seemed to contradict the bitterness of the moment. He seized Kagome's hand, pulling her on her feet, and she looked at him with a mixture of uneasiness and compassion. They headed for the Sacred Tree side by side, silence taking over them as they walked. Deep inside his heart, Inuyasha called for another, praying for her safety and begging her to wait for him.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

A little excursion into history. Why Kikyo wondered whether Kagome's house belonged to the nobility – the answer is actually quite simple. She was born into the 16th century when the Japanese built their houses as simple as possible. They were usually wooden, sometimes on a stone foundation. Tiled roofs were common maybe in the cities, not in the country, and barely anyone could afford to have their house painted. As for windows, those were made with paper screens and there weren't many of them (alternatively, wooden grates were used, but those were usually found in the temples or shrines, carrying various decorations), if any, since most of the time the houses were built with sliding doors serving as windows as well.

The only buildings that were massive, made in stone, painted white and coated with a tile roof were the castles that the _daimyos_ (the so-called feudal lords, even though I don't really like this term being used in this case since _daimyos_ were mostly warriors entrusted with some land, subordinate only to the shogun) had built as their base. Try to search for the Himeji castle on Google, for example. You'll see what I mean. :)

(Also, glass was rarely used until the 19th century when Japan finally decided to catch up to the west.)

* * *

 _Stay tuned!_


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